Confined Pheromone

It was an action that was unlike Siwoo. He bit his lip and looked ahead. The tall headquarters building of JR Group was getting closer. As Siwoo’s car smoothly entered, a security guard who recognized it approached. Opening the backseat door, the guard spoke.

“…Director?”

When Siwoo got out of the driver’s seat instead of the backseat, the guard looked at him with a somewhat awkward expression while peering into the empty backseat. It was because he hadn’t expected Siwoo to drive himself. Siwoo forced a stiff smile and nodded at him.

“Please park the car.”

He handed the smart key to the guard. The guard seemed a bit flustered, but soon bowed his head while making a request to call a valet through his earpiece. Siwoo walked away stiffly.

***

[30 minutes earlier]

“Manager Jung, please take me to Building K.”

As he pulled a hesitant Sanho and seated him in the backseat, Manager Jung looked up at Siwoo. Although his expression didn’t change, his eyebrows twitched for a moment as if he was about to frown. Siwoo gently shook his head.

“Please take me to my junior’s house. Make sure he gets inside.”

“Then, Director….”

“I’ll call another car.”

“But time….”

“It’s fine.”

Siwoo let out a short sigh. Then he forced a smile. Don’t worry. At Siwoo’s firm words, Manager Jung nodded.

“I’ll contact Secretary Yoon to send a car. I won’t be able to take you to the headquarters, but….”

“I’ll drive myself. Thank you.”

As Siwoo reached to close the car door, his eyes met Sanho’s in the backseat.

“…….”

“…….”

Avoiding Sanho’s gaze, Siwoo looked up. He met Manager Jung’s eyes through the rearview mirror and quietly said once more.

“Please.”

The door clicked shut. The car, which had momentarily stopped, began to move smoothly again.

He turned to look at Inhye, who was watching from a distance. Inhye’s expression was quite complicated. It resembled the expression she had in the school hallway today. Siwoo spoke to Inhye.

“Inhye, about what I saw today.”

“I wanted to tell you something.”

Inhye interrupted Siwoo again. Siwoo remained silent. Inhye was definitely not rude. She was polite and kind. When Siwoo looked at Inhye, she shook her head slightly and continued.

“It’s about Baek Sanho.”

“Sanho… what about him?”

“Your senior has something urgent to attend to, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Tomorrow at school. No, I’ll tell you outside of school.”

Inhye’s expression was truly, truly strange.

***

“JR Group’s 452nd shareholders’ meeting….”

As Siwoo sat in the spacious conference room, the microphone on the podium began to echo. Chairman Jin, who sat in the most prestigious seat, glanced at Siwoo, who had arrived a bit late, but kept his mouth tightly shut. Chairman Jin wouldn’t scold Siwoo for being about 10 minutes late to the meeting. However… Siwoo pressed his temples as if he had a headache.

“Regarding the agenda for the first quarter….”

The shareholders’ meeting was boring. It was a place with no utility other than Chairman Jin’s son showing his presence as the young heir of JR Group. There was no way a young director about to graduate from college would have anything to say. Once all the proceedings were over, people began to rise from their seats one by one. The first to stand was Chairman Jin, who affectionately patted Siwoo on the shoulder and smiled before leaving. Siwoo’s lips stiffened.

In front of the headquarters building, Siwoo got into the car and took a moment to catch his breath. The brief moments he had seen in the alley replayed quickly in front of his eyes. Pheromones, Alpha, Sanho, and… and Inhye’s expression filled with disgust. He glanced down to check the time. It was already past 10 o’clock. Siwoo took out his phone and swiped the screen but soon put it back down.

It was late.

He let out a deep sigh and started the engine. Looking at the people standing outside the car window, who were neatly waiting to greet him, he smiled apologetically. His heart felt very uncomfortable.

***

It was a day without classes. However, there were plenty of reasons to go to school. Instead of parking, Siwoo took a large loop around the campus. Not seeing the face he was looking for, he made another round. Still, he couldn’t find the face he was searching for. Siwoo picked up his phone and scrolled through his contacts. Finally, he found the number he was looking for and pressed the call button.

“…….”

There was a slightly long wait for the signal. Just as the connection tone was about to cut off, a voice came through the phone.

– Siwoo sunbae?

“Yeah, Inhye.”

– Ah, I was just about to contact you…

Inhye’s voice sounded a bit muffled, as if she had just woken up. It was well past lunchtime. Siwoo tilted his head slightly and spoke.

“I wanted to hear what you were going to say yesterday.”

– ……

“About Sanho.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Soon, Inhye spoke slowly.

– I couldn’t go to school today because I’m not feeling well.

“Ah.”

Are you okay? He instinctively wanted to ask about her well-being but slowly closed his mouth. Inhye continued, sounding apologetic.

– If you’re at school… could you come this way? I live in an officetel near the school. The red brick building next to the playground.

As is often the case near college towns, it was an area filled with officetels. Siwoo knew well where Inhye was talking about. He replied lightly, “Okay,” and Inhye said,

– I’ll go out to the playground.

Sorry for the trouble. With her small voice, Siwoo replied in a monotone.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry you’re sick.”

After a brief pause, he spoke again.

“I’ll be there soon.”

He didn’t want to bother his sick junior. But he had to hear what Inhye wanted to say. It was about Sanho. Siwoo slowly pressed the accelerator.

Not even five minutes after Siwoo arrived in front of the playground, Inhye appeared, walking briskly. She looked like she had spent the whole day at home, dressed comfortably in a fluffy cardigan. Her small face looked quite pale. Siwoo frowned slightly.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

Inhye awkwardly smiled.

“No, I’m fine.”

“I should have brought you some medicine.”

Inhye widened her eyes and waved her hands.

“No! I’m really okay. It’s just something that gets better with rest….”

Siwoo nodded silently. When Inhye sat on a bench at the edge of the playground, Siwoo slowly followed and sat down next to her. Inhye was fiddling with her phone, staring at it. Siwoo silently watched the tips of her fingers. Finally, Inhye looked up and met Siwoo’s gaze.

“Sunbae, what is your relationship with Sanho?”

Her eyes slightly squinted. Inhye had once told him not to hang out with Sanho, and she had said something similar before. What had he said back then? Had he asked how they knew each other? Siwoo stared at Inhye without answering. Inhye looked at Siwoo’s stiff expression and sighed deeply before asking.

“Have you ever… given Sanho money?”

Money? It was a completely unexpected question. Siwoo narrowed his eyes and looked at Inhye. Inhye shook her head as if to excuse herself.

“I thought it wouldn’t be true either.”

“…….”

“Still, sunbae. About what I mentioned last time. That Baek Sanho is doing some strange part-time job. That’s real.”

Siwoo knew that too. He had witnessed it with his own eyes and heard the conversation. And Sanho, who had been standing in front of the Omega club. It wasn’t hard to infer what the promise he had told Sanho to cancel that day was, even without confirming it. Of course, it was questionable how Inhye was so sure that Sanho was doing such a thing. As Siwoo continued to stare at Inhye without answering, she slowly continued.

“First, promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Keep my secret.”

A secret? Siwoo tilted his head. But soon he furrowed his brows slightly. The fragrant floral scent filled the air around them. It was a scent reminiscent of young daisies. It wasn’t as strong as Sanho’s, but it was definitely the pheromones of an Omega. Inhye looked at Siwoo’s furrowed face and, gathering her pheromones, lowered her gaze.

“I’m an Omega.”

“…….”

“I knew you were an Alpha. At first, I just suspected it… but yesterday, I could tell right away when I smelled your pheromones.”

If she were a trait, she would have certainly felt Siwoo’s fierce pheromones in the alley yesterday. It was more strange that Siwoo hadn’t noticed that he was a dominant Alpha. If Inhye was an Omega, it wouldn’t be too strange for her to know that Sanho was doing such part-time work.

“You know that strange messages come to Omegas a lot, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“I get them too. They’re worse and dirtier than spam texts.”

“…….”

“But I received a strange message a while ago.”

Inhye pressed her phone screen with her hand and bit her lip. Soon, as if she had made up her mind, she unlocked her phone and handed it to Siwoo.

“Honestly, it’s better for you to see it directly.”

Siwoo quietly accepted the phone that Inhye offered. A series of unsolicited messages lined up below.

[Job Posting: Omega (any gender) 1,000,000 won for a date]

[You’re a student at H University, right?]

[Don’t be scared]

[I just want to chat]

[H University Business Administration xx class Baek Sanho. You know him, right?]

[Do you know that bastard is doing Omega part-time work?]

[I manage that bastard. I’ve even given him an advance of 500 before.]

[You know, if you buy a package, you get more.]

It was clear that he was a pimp who arranged Omegas and took the money. It was certain from the way he talked about packages. Moreover, the crude language he used to treat Omegas like whores. And the one he was treating like a whore was none other than Sanho.

[But this bastard canceled the appointment without saying anything, and I had to pay several times the penalty.]

[I was so pissed off that I wanted to catch him and beat him up]

[But he said he wouldn’t do that anymore. He seemed to have gotten involved with some rich Alpha senior at school. Since then, he’s been out of contact.]

[When I asked a few H University Omega students, it seems he’s been hanging out with someone named Jin Siwoo lately.]

[That bastard is the son of the JR chairman.]

[It’s so infuriating to see that idiot trying to act tough after catching a big fish.]

[Tell that stupid rich kid to be careful. Baek Sanho is really a leech.]

[He’s the kind of bastard who won’t spread his legs but will suck all the money dry.]

[That naive rich kid is probably getting all excited over the precious male Omega pheromones and trying to throw money at him, how pathetic.]

After a long time, Inhye’s first reply caught Siwoo’s eye.

[Why are you telling me this?]

After that, only one message had arrived.

[Why? Because you’re going to spread rumors at school. Then both Baek Sanho and that rich kid will be buried at school, right?]

Siwoo slowly lifted his gaze from the phone and met Inhye’s eyes. There was no particular emotion on his expressionless face. Inhye looked the same. But the voice of Inhye, who opened her mouth to speak, was trembling slightly.

“Even if there’s only 1% of Omegas, it means that 1 out of 100 is an Omega. There are quite a few at our school. Just from what I know.”

“…….”

“Soon, rumors will spread at school. This message… it couldn’t have just come to me.”

***

After parting with Inhye and getting into the car, Siwoo pondered for a moment. It was a brief contemplation. Soon, with an expression devoid of any disturbance, he pressed the accelerator. The car roared to life. Siwoo’s expression remained unchanged as he looked ahead.

The road to Building K was a bit tedious. The wide road of the bustling area began to narrow, and finally, they turned onto a sparsely populated road. When Siwoo reached the entrance of the alley, which was tightly woven like a spider’s web, he stopped the car. The engine of the car that had stopped in front of a desolate construction site smoothly turned off. Siwoo slowly got out of the car.

“…….”

He walked up the alley, looking around. It seemed that new streetlights were being installed, as traces of construction were evident everywhere. Perhaps it would be better to just demolish this entire road. Siwoo blinked slowly and moved forward. 

“…….”